1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for hand image recognition, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for recognizing hand rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, hand orientation detection is used in high-tech systems. When one desires to detect a position and an orientation of a hand in a three dimensional (3D) space, one has to detect the hand using a camera, a 3D range-finder, or any other device, which can detect the presence of the hand and provide some information on the position and orientation of the hand.
One of several methods that may be used to detect an orientation of a hand is through use of a camera. Other methods are based on an image histogram, a finger distinguished mark, or stereoscopic vision. However, the above methods have several disadvantages.
In the method based on the finger distinguished mark, all or most hand marks should be visible through a camera at all times. If the method requires detecting a fingertip, all fingers should be visible and should not be obscured by another object. Accordingly, the finger distinguished mark method is limited in that it is not easy to detect the presence of another object.
Additionally, although there exists several approaches to hand orientation detection, the methods are limited by requiring complex finger orientation recognition.